Airport security delays travelers.

Byline: Rebecca Taylor The Register-Guard

A suspicious device that shut down the Eugene Airport for about four hours Thursday turned out to be common household items inside a metal pipe, the FBI said.

The 9-inch pipe looked exactly like a bomb, officials said. It was capped at the ends and wrapped in electrician's tape.

It was found inside a passenger's checked luggage.

The man was preparing to board Denver-bound United flight 6649 operated by SkyWest Airlines when security screeners spotted the item in his bag shortly before 6 a.m., said Andrea McCauley, a spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration.

"TSA examined the item and initially concluded that it did not pose a threat," McCauley said.

The screeners removed the item from the bag and allowed the passenger to board the flight. After the plane took off, they thought better of their decision.

"Upon further scrutiny and out of an abundance of caution, local authorities were contacted," McCauley said.

A Eugene police officer stationed at the airport took one look at the pipe and called in the bomb squad. Police and airport officials evacuated the terminal.

"Fortunately, most of our morning flights had already gone out," airport spokeswoman Cathryn Stephens said. Most of those affected were airport employees.

A Denver newspaper reported that the pipe contained three rolls of dimes taped together. FBI agents in Denver and Portland would not confirm the report by The Rocky Mountain News.

"Frequently if you find one device, there's likely to be another," Eugene police Capt. Pete Kerns said. Nothing else was found.

The flight landed at Denver International Airport about 9:30 a.m. FBI agents held the plane on the tarmac while they interviewed the passenger and searched the aircraft. They found nothing suspicious and allowed the Eugene man to proceed to France, his final destination.

Federal prosecutors will decide whether to file any charges against the man, whose identity was not released, said Rene Vonder Haar, spokeswoman for the FBI in Denver.

The Eugene closure delayed two outbound flights, Stephens said. Planes headed to Eugene from Portland and Seattle were kept at gates in those cities.

The bomb squad took the item to the police shooting range and determined it was not dangerous, police said. TSA officers in Eugene then contacted officials at Denver International Airport.

Meanwhile, cars stacked up on the roads leading to the airport, where parking lots were closed to traffic. The airport was reopened shortly after 10 a.m.

Terri Adair of Cottage Grove was supposed to catch a 10:20 a.m. flight to Palm Springs, Calif., for a business trip. She heard about the closure on the radio and arrived to find a long line of cars on Airport Road. She waited for about an hour until the closure was lifted.

She said her new flight plan would deliver her to her destination five hours late.

"I'm missing a meeting tonight," she said.